Six months of hard work, six months of playing a busy schedule, long bus trips, working on tough conditioning drills and having a hope for a title.
They got that title, thanks to their composure as a team when things got tough and a balanced offensive attack that couldn't be stopped.
Down 86-80 to Northwest Indian College with 7:59 to go in the game, SKC went on a 17-6 run to give themselves a 97-93 lead. NWIC would tie the game two times with less than two minutes to go but the Bison got a bucket and two free throws from Marvin Lewis to seal up the 103-99 win in dramatic fashion.
"It just came down to teamwork," Lewis said. "We knew we were going to hit the right shot."
He wasn't kidding. Three players for SKC scored over 20 points in the championship matchup, another scored 11 and three others were just a bucket away from scoring in double digits.
NWIC was certainly no pushover, overcoming an early 9-4 deficit early in the first half to take the 22-20 lead midway through the periods. The teams traded leads again before SKC went on a 16-4 run to take a 47-36 advantage with 3:56 left in the half. The Bison would go in to the locker room with a 53-48 lead.
Dennis Sangrey scored 16 first-half points en route to a 23-point performance for the night. Sangrey hit five three-pointers in the game.
In the second half, Joe Chartraw started things off by scoring the Bison's first seven points. He would finish the game with 23, tied for the team lead with Sangrey. Thirteen of those points came in the second half.
SKC took a 67-60 lead five minutes into the second half, and held the bulk of their lead up until midway through the period. With 10:30 to go, the Bison were up 80-75 before NWIC went on a 11-0 run.
SKC was able to to weather the storm and win their seventh national championship in eight years. It was also their third AIHEC championship in a row.
Marvin Lewis scored 22 points for the Bison and was named tournament MVP afterwards. Sangrey, Chartraw, Lewis, Jason Enright and Sonny Eppinette were named to the all-tournament team.
SKC - 53 - 50 - 103
NWIC - 48 - 51 - 99
Bison scoring - Dennis Sangrey 23, Joe Chartraw 23, Marvin Lewis 22, Emory LaMere 11, Sonny Eppinette 8, Ralston Moore 8, Jason Enright 8
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